Monday, March 15, 2010

I usually don't film things I'm trying for the first time. There is so much set up involved, and time invested when I do one of these video recipes, that it's just too painful to have something not work and end up with nothing to show for all the effort.

I thought this chicken fettuccine Alfredo recipe was going to fit that description. I'm putting this recipe in the cookbook, and I wanted to try one that uses chicken broth, the same one used to poach the breasts, in place of some of the heavy cream.

I was so sure I had the right proportions that I decided to film it without a test. I was wrong, or as the kids say these days…Fail (which by the way, is getting really annoying, so cut it out).

The dish tasted great; the fortified chicken broth worked perfectly as a partial cream substitute, and I also managed to not use any butter or olive oil – another goal of this recipe. The problem, as you'll see, is I simply had twice as much chicken broth as I needed.

So, in case I'm not clear in the video. You poach the breasts in 2 cups of broth, but before you continue with the recipe, boil that poaching liquid down to 1 cup and you will be in slightly-less-caloric chicken fettuccine Alfredo heaven.

Also, be sure to undercook the pasta by at least a minute, so you can allow it to absorb the sauce at the end, as it rests covered. The last piece of advice you've heard before… DO NOT attempt this recipe unless you have a nice hunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It's like the main ingredient, so that green can is not going to cut it. Enjoy!

This may sound like a really dumb question but..when exactly does one begin timing the cooking process for the pasta? Does it need to return to a full boil? Does it matter if it takes a bit before the dried pasta is flexible enough to be totally submerged? I have survived for many years without this information but...it would be great to know!!

I commend you for not using any nutmeg in your Alfredo (those philistines who put nutmeg into Alfredo ought to be lined up against the wall). Just watching your video makes me hungry - I will definitely give this a try - and I will try the sweet basil version as well.

I've never really grasp the reason why people are still buying canned cheese. It doesn't melt properly, doesn't even taste like cheese. The most surprising thing is that Kraft even has canned cheddar cheese!!! As if parmesan alone isn't enough of an abomination.

i pretty much just post what I'm making so I'm not sure which are bariatric-friendly. Doing recipes for the cookbook now, so don't really have time to make requests, but after that maybe they'll be more of that kind.

Hello Chef, I made this today for my girlfriend and I for our 3rd anniversary. It turned out great! Restaurant quality. The cheese was on the pricey side but definitely worth it, goodbye green canister! :)

There is a packet pasta recipe in Australia called Continental Alfredo. i love it - even though its packet pasta!! it never occured to me to actually make it myself from scatch! i think you have just inspired me!

i find that fresh pasta just doesn't absorb as much sauce, so maybe use a bit less broth, or reduce the cream and broth down a bit before doing the egg yolk. But this sauce tastes great on any pasta. (how could it not, it's basically just cream and cheese ;-)

Chef John, so i tried this recipe because i love creamy alfredo sauce, but when i made mine, i found it a little too light on the cream. Maybe i didn't boil off enough stock. Anyway from your recipe list you say to use 2 cups of cheese, i'm not sure if my conversions were correct but i bought 2 8oz bricks of parmigiano-reggiano. when i grated 1 brick it was already a LOT of cheese so I didnt even dare grate the second.

this produces an excellent but very heavy sauce, so i decided to try Chef John's sauce. I did add both parmigiano reggiano and pecorino romano. I have to say, this is a comparable sauce. It didn't sacrifice flavor, in fact, it think the chicken stock really adds a significant boost of chickeny goodness.

I am not the biggest fan of poached chicken but in this recipe, it really fits. Overall, i would rate this an 8/10, well worth the extra time and effort. I will be making this again and it is quickly becoming my go to recipe.

Chef John I made this today and the sauce tastes way too cheesy almost like feet. Does that mean I put too much cheese? I can barley taste the sweetness of the cream. The sauce was perfect though after I reduced it to 1 cup, but did I put too much cheese. Please advise. Thank you so much.

I made this the other day and it was the first time my family had ever had alfredo that was not from a jar...needless to say you have helped me trick them into thinking I can cook. Bless you and thanks for keeping it real.

I made this the other night for my family and initially I wasn't happy with the sauce because I thought it was too loose...and when I added the egg yolks, I ended up with little clumps of egg but I since learned from your hollandaise recipe that I probably wasn't careful enough about getting all the white off...and have since used my hands to seperate instead of shell to shell...overall it was delicious...I think I was expecting it to be thicker like a sauce made with flour...but I like the idea of using eggs to thicken so I will continue practicing with it...:-) Thanks!!!

Great recipe! Just tried it for the first time and it worked out great. My fiance usually finds something wrong with everything I try to make lol...she's a picky eater. But, she scarfed it down like she hadn't eaten in a week. :)

Thanks for posting all your recipes and walking the culinary challenged through them step by step.

Attempted to make the alfredo and I think I succeeded. It was wonderful. I liked the lighter version as did my husband. I told him after that it was. It's not a rich and creamy as my fav resteraunt, but Im no chef either. This was my first time making it and I loved having the videos to view. I fell in love with this blog. It is now a favorite!

Hi, I made this recipe for dinner and it turned out great, after poaching my chicken I noticed it was kinda pale so I gave it a tan in some evoo and i also added 1 1/2 cups of frozen green peas mmm good! Thank You :)

hi.....i'm a beginner cooker....i just tried this recipe..and i rally satisfied with this recipe...taste like from my fave restaurant..my husband love it so much....thank you so much for he recipe.....:D

Chef JohnThanks for getting back to me on my use of chicken base instead of broth. This is in the rotation. Wife , kids and their friends loved it. Any other ideas or recipes using poached chicken, it was delicious!!

What a flavorful sauce! I've been on the prowl looking for that alfredo sauce that just hits the spot, and this is it! May I ask though what causes the sauce to have that slight sweetness to it? Also I'm a huge fan of mushrooms and thought about throwing some in. When would be a good time to add those in?

I made this meal tonight. I have a lot of things to work on, but it came out delicious. What I really liked about the meal was the overall softness, the richness of the sauce, and it does not make you feel heavy afterwards. The alfredo I usually eat makes you feel heavy and at the same time has a watery taste.

I made it for my family so I actually put 6 chicken breasts in and kept everything else the same. The sauce I made was to thin but the extra chicken soaked it up.

Lastly, I really have no idea how properly cooked pasta tastes or feels like. Is it personal preference? I've tried pasta that was supposedly overcooked by 5-10 mins and it tasted fine to me, the only pasta that disagreed with me is undercooked pasta where it is still hard.

Thank you so much for an amazing recipe! I made this for dinner last night and it is now my favorite meal to make. It was so cheesy and delicious. My fiance even said it was better than his grandmas! So thank you again for helping me make a dish that made my fiance and my whole family happy.

Hey Chef, this recipe looks amazing and I can't wait to try it. I was just wondering when and where I might be able to add shrimp to this dish.... or if thats a horrible idea. ......the person that i'm going to make it for loves a certain chicken and shrimp Alfredo dish.... and pretty much I'm trying to compete with it. Any guidance will be very useful.Thanks!!!

Chef John,I have to say that my family loves your recipes. I have been using food wishes dot com for about two months now and my family always looks forward to dinner now. I Entertain at a place called Scarcellas Italian Grill, in Temecula, Ca. for 13 years now and have eaten their food every weekend and have always loved their food, but I have used your recipes and you blow their food away. Not saying they're not good, but your food is incredible. You're in my kitchen every night trying something new. I am thinking about some type of cooking school. Do you teach anywhere? I would take your classes any time. Thanks, for being apart of my family. Evan St. James www.evanstjames.com

This was delicious. I made it a few days ago and both my boyfriend and I loved it. This recipe is a keeper! I did not put the egg yolks in the sauce. I also added a bag of frozen stir fry veggies (peppers, onions, mushrooms) - it was a nice way to trick myself into eating something healthy to go along with all the creamy, cheesy goodness.

I cooked this tonight and I am, like many, a long time Chef John devotee but first time poster. It was a success. Very light and alfredo as classified. I liked that it had no butter or oil but being a natural fatty adn to appease others had to add some bacon and mushrooms. Nonetheless, I stuck with the saucing principal which is the key i think. It was wetter than usual for me but i ran with it and very glad. Result was a light tasty pasta. Quality parmesan essential here though. The best thing about CJ's video was his correction or mistake re the amount of chicken stock. THanks CJ for including that error, it really help me centre my own fallibilities and variations. Another winner.